Hiking Plans 2018

Firming up my spring section hike dates for 2018. Looks like Smoking Sox and I will knock off the 77.8 miles from I-40 just outside the GSMNP to Sams Gap in mid-March. We could start at Davenport Gap but I'm guessing it will be easier to arrange transportation from the I-40 exit when we finish the Smokies in a few years. Any comments?

Tortoise-daughter will be joining us on her first overnight trip. She did the Roan Highlands with me last July and is looking forward to hiking the first 34 miles to Hot Springs.

Where are y'all planning to trek in 2018?

Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Winding Stair Gap NC,Max Patch to Franconia Notch NH and the Gale River Trail to Pinkham Notch NH.

Bartender and I are planning ~50 miles south from Front Royal in April and ~50 miles north from Stratton, ME in August. We have completed all the miles in between. That is the plan, but life always gets in the way.

My wife Kathy and I have 2 things planned for 2018
In April we'll hike either the Loyalsock Trail in Pennsylvania or the AT from Penn Mar park in PA to Harper's Ferry, WV.
The determining factor will be if a friend, who is just getting into hiking and backpacking decides to come with us or not.
If she's going to come then it will be the AT.

Then during the summer, probably July, we'll be back in Maine to hike more of the AT.
Last year we left off at route 27, at Stratton, so we'll hike north from there for a short section.

Well, other than closing some gaps, so far I only have a plan to do Pinkham to Crawford’s via the 3 huts. I just hope Army Ants new job doesn’t take him out. Plus hopefully meet Astro somewhere

Bartender and I did Lakes of the Clouds Hut. Preferred tenting and carrying our own food. ymmv

by chance as I was driving thru Danbury in July, I got a text. The A. Ant scored 2 bunks @ Crouds the next Saturday. We walked up the Ammonussic Ravine, and took the train down Sunday morning. I believe it is in my ‘Short walks.....’ thread and pics in my gallery. It was short, but a sweet 36 hours on the trail

You will be fine. I had my left knee rebuilt with dead guy parts, some resurfacing and clean up. A couple of months of intense PT and then 4 more months of PT on my own and I was on the AT 14 months post-surgery doing 12 mile days in the mountains of N. GA...the knee has been great for the last 4 years. However, the inevitable old age and old damage/injuries to the knee are beginning to show. It gets achy. I was told by the surgeon to not only expect that, but with my RA and all the prior damage a full-on knee replacement is likely before age 65...yikes...

You will be fine. I had my left knee rebuilt with dead guy parts, some resurfacing and clean up. A couple of months of intense PT and then 4 more months of PT on my own and I was on the AT 14 months post-surgery doing 12 mile days in the mountains of N. GA...the knee has been great for the last 4 years. However, the inevitable old age and old damage/injuries to the knee are beginning to show. It gets achy. I was told by the surgeon to not only expect that, but with my RA and all the prior damage a full-on knee replacement is likely before age 65...yikes...

GOOD LUCK, KNEES SUCK!!!

Thanks for the encouragement. I am a little concerned how my autoimmune disease, Indeterminate Soft Tissue Connective Disorder (isn't that a mouth full?) will play into all this, but I got one life and I'm not spending it on my butt.

"Dazed and Confused"
Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
Plant a tree
Take a kid hiking
Make a difference

You will be fine. I had my left knee rebuilt with dead guy parts, some resurfacing and clean up. A couple of months of intense PT and then 4 more months of PT on my own and I was on the AT 14 months post-surgery doing 12 mile days in the mountains of N. GA...the knee has been great for the last 4 years. However, the inevitable old age and old damage/injuries to the knee are beginning to show. It gets achy. I was told by the surgeon to not only expect that, but with my RA and all the prior damage a full-on knee replacement is likely before age 65...yikes...

GOOD LUCK, KNEES SUCK!!!

Thanks for the encouragement. I am a little concerned how my autoimmune disease, Indeterminate Soft Tissue Connective Disorder (isn't that a mouth full?) will play into all this, but I got one life and I'm not spending it on my butt.

These autoimmune diseases are very similar. My RA is behaving like yours, attacking tendons. It has eaten away the flexor tendon in my left thumb, rendering it inop. Need a transplant to restore function. Methotrexate wasn't worth the side effects and I'm not an Enbrel or Humira candidate, so I am essentially fooked for life. But, that won't keep me on the couch either! I got rid of all inflammatory foods, sugar and alcohol and it made a big difference. Exercise makes a huge difference as well.

The good news is that with an autoimmune system in permanent overdrive, I rarely get sick and never get an infection...silver linings and all....just sayin...

ScareBear & JJ, I hope you both have been tested for Lyme Disease. Chronic Lyme can manifest itself in many ways, including autoimmune disorders. I would try to find a Lyme Literate Doctor for testing, the test most Doctors use (ELISA) frequently produces false negatives.

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier

So, Lyme is an interesting topic. If I still had Lyme, I would by symptomatic and sick. It's a bacteria. Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection. However, once it's gone, it's gone. It doesn't lie dormant like a virus, waiting for the right time to awaken(think Shingles).

Thus, what people refer to a "Chronic Lyme Disease" isn't active Lyme Disease. It's dealing with the damage from the prior Lyme disease infection. There isn't any cure for the damage that Lyme disease did. Antibiotics won't do a damn thing, since the bacteria is long dead and gone.

Extensive testing, bone scans, MRI's, Xrays and tens of thousands of dollars in lab work yielded the best diagnosis...RA AND PA. Yep, you can have both at the same fooking time. It truly sucks. It was the PA that was the hidden diagnosis. Took my Rheumatologist three fooking years to figure that out, but I don't blame him...you don't often see the two together and the RA was a fairly easy diagnosis.

However, I DO thank you for your concern and advice! It is nice to have folks thinking about you positively!

ScareBear & JJ, I hope you both have been tested for Lyme Disease. Chronic Lyme can manifest itself in many ways, including autoimmune disorders. I would try to find a Lyme Literate Doctor for testing, the test most Doctors use (ELISA) frequently produces false negatives.

I got treated for Lyme this summer when I got an infected tick bite. I had blood work done when they thought I might have RA. Blood work came back with markers for Lupus (RNA markers?). But they ruled out Lupus and RA and came up with that really obscure Indeterminate Soft Tissue Connective Disorder thing. I think that's what they call it when they don't know what else to call it.

"Dazed and Confused"
Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
Plant a tree
Take a kid hiking
Make a difference

Getting surgery on my knee on Wednesday. Medial meniscus tear and I have some patella damage. Hopefully I'll be able to continue hiking after I recover.

Been there done that, after surgery the more you hurt it the faster it heals, told the doc it felt like a tight band in front of the knee cap that would break if I tripped and bent the knee too much...he said I was probably right, it would hurt like hell but would not be a bad thing...just scare tissue breaking, said I's pay the price if I over did it but would not damage the knee. My last trip to see the doc he asked if I had any hiking plans, told him I did, he gave me a pack of steroids to take with me, said if I got to camp one evening and the hurt to start the steroid treatment and I'd be ready to go in the morning, never needed them.

Getting surgery on my knee on Wednesday. Medial meniscus tear and I have some patella damage. Hopefully I'll be able to continue hiking after I recover.

Been there done that, after surgery the more you hurt it the faster it heals, told the doc it felt like a tight band in front of the knee cap that would break if I tripped and bent the knee too much...he said I was probably right, it would hurt like hell but would not be a bad thing...just scare tissue breaking, said I's pay the price if I over did it but would not damage the knee. My last trip to see the doc he asked if I had any hiking plans, told him I did, he gave me a pack of steroids to take with me, said if I got to camp one evening and the hurt to start the steroid treatment and I'd be ready to go in the morning, never needed them.

I had a tiny cut on each side of the knee in front, I told the doc I thought the problem was in the back of the knee, he said it was...glad he didn't explain the answer to that untill after the surgery.

Interesting that our hiking plans thread turns to medical issues. But for me at this stage that is the biggest factor. I can make plans calendar wise, logistically, and financially to finish the AT like I planned last year, but in the back of my mind I know it still depends on my body holding up to it.

The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
Richard Ewell, CSA General

Makes me wish I knew about the AT when I was young and thru hiked it like Max Patch and Mountain Mike.

We did know about the AT when we were younger, but raising a family and working all the overtime I could get kept me from doing much more than a walk in our local county park.
So now I'm doing the best that I can and enjoying what I do get to do. I'm not going to spill tears over the past but try and figure out how to enjoy the future.

I liked the answer a guy on TOS gave when someone asked what the average age of a thru hiker was.....40....half are 20 and half are 60. It's nice to have the opportunity to be rebellious twice in life.